The issue about aging population not only affects Singapore but in many other parts of the world. It's not something new and is something that was foreseen. It is an issue that we need to tackle soon as the situation becomes more and more real with each passing day.
So what exactly is aging population? It is simply a shift in the distribution of a country's population towards the older ages; an increase in the population's mean or median age, a decline in the proportion of the population composed of children, or a rise in the proportion of the population that is elderly. An increase in longevity due to better health care and medical technology raises the average age of the population thereby raising the number of years that each person is old relative to number of years in which he is young. A decline in fertility also increases the average age of the population by changing the balance of people born recently (the young) to people born further in the past (the old). Of these two forces, it is declining fertility that is the dominant contributor to aging population in the world today.
The economic effects of an aging population are considerable. One large area of government expenditure in many countries is health care, whose cost is likely to increase dramatically as the population ages. However there are many other social impacts as well.
So how equipped or ready is Singapore to handle a larger elderly population? It is good that many of the housing estates in Singapore already have the necessary facilities for the elderly like wheelchair ramps and even nice community spaces. The elderly are encouraged to stay active and healthy. However, one thing that probably needs improvement is the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). With more elderly taking the trains, shouldn't more seats be provided? Wouldn't increasing the frequency and allowing trains be less crowded make more sense?
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